Stability Control Sharing

ABSTRACT

A system that receives and analyzes a connected vehicle&#39;s safety feature activation and the location of activation on a road to determine if a hazard condition exist and providing an alert on a subscriber&#39;s vehicle or wireless device. Weather information for the location of the activation, highway engineering information for the location of the activation and other connected vehicles&#39; safety feature activation at the location are also considered in the determination if the hazardous condition exists on the road. The hazardous condition alert can also be sent to the highway transportation department so that the hazardous condition can be mitigated.

CROSS REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/979,792, filed Dec. 28, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,102,743 issuedOct. 16, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to relaying vehicle diagnosticinformation. More particularly, the present invention relates torelaying safety features activation by the vehicle to third parties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The United States and other developed countries have a vast network ofhighways and roads that need to be maintained during various weatherconditions. Maintenance crews often rely on weather forecasts todetermine if a portion of the highway needs to be maintained duringinclement weather. Maintenance during inclement weather, such as snow orsleet may include plowing, salting or sanding of the highway. Further,electronic roadway signs provide highway conditions to drivers but againrely on weather forecasts to predict if the highway is slippery in orderto post a warning. Thus, there typically is a long lag time between whenthe highway becomes slippery and when it will get treated due toreliance on weather forecast. The lag time of the treatment may causeaccidents due to the untreated slippery conditions.

Modern vehicles are equipped with various safety features includingantilock brakes, lane change warnings, and stability control in order toassist drivers during the inclement weather. The safety features providedata that can be harnessed.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide the safety features' data inreal time to various third parties, such as highway transportationdepartments so that the highway may be treated in a timely manner duringincrement weather.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the presentinvention, wherein in one aspect data from safety features of one ormore vehicles can be relayed to third parties such as highwaytransportation departments so that hazardous conditions can be actedupon in real time. Additionally, drivers that may be near or at thelocation of the hazardous conditions can be warned via electronicmessaging that includes display on electronic road signs, wirelessdevices, in vehicle displays and the like.

In accordance with one embodiment, a processor-implemented method ofidentifying hazard conditions on a road programmed in a non-transitoryprocessor-readable medium and to execute on one or more processors of acomputing device configured to execute the method that includesreceiving, with a processor of the computing device, a first vehicle'ssafety feature activation information and a location of the activationcollected from a first connected vehicle, analyzing, with the processor,the first vehicle's safety feature activation information to determineif hazard conditions exist at the location on the road being driven onby the first vehicle, storing any determined hazard conditions andlocation of the determined hazard conditions on a memory of thecomputing device, and providing, via an alert application stored on thememory, to a subscriber the determined hazard conditions and thedetermined hazard conditions' location.

In accordance with another embodiment, a computing device that analyzesand provides hazardous conditions alerts for a road that includes aprocessor configured to control functions of the computing device viasoftware and applications, a global positioning system configured toprovide a location of a subscriber in relation to a location of adetermined hazardous condition on the road, a wireless interfaceconfigured to communicate with a remote device of the subscriber and toreceive a first vehicle's safety feature activation information and alocation of the activation collected from a first connected vehicle, anda memory in communication with the processor and configured to store anoperating system and a plurality of applications, wherein the pluralityof applications that includes an alert application that determines ifthe first vehicle's safety feature activation information indicates thatthe hazardous condition exists at the location on the road and providesan alert about the hazardous condition and the location of the hazardouscondition to a wireless device of a subscriber, and a paymentapplication that receives a payment of the subscriber in order toreceive alerts from the alert application.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may bebetter understood, and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodimentsof the invention that will be described below and which will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments inaddition to those described and of being practiced and carried out invarious ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for thepurpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conceptionupon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a connected vehicle slipping on ice (black ice) whiledriving on road according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary dashboard of a connected vehicleaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the connected vehicle communicating with acommunication tower and a highway transportation department according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system to convey the hazardous conditions on theroad according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary components of a network system according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method for reporting and receiving hazardousconditions information according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawingfigures, in which like reference numerals refer to like partsthroughout. Embodiments of the invention allow third parties such as thedrivers and highway transportation departments to be alerted tohazardous conditions caused by weather or other reasons such aspotholes, sinkholes, dangerous curves and the like.

FIG. 1 illustrates a connected vehicle 106 slipping on ice (black ice)104 while driving on road 102 according to an embodiment of theinvention. As shown in FIG. 1, the road 102 not only has a curvedportion but also has ice 104 there on. Thus, the ice 104 and the curveportion on the road provide the driver of the vehicle 106 with hazardousconditions that requires the vehicle's safety features to activate. Onesuch safety feature includes the electronic stability control on thevehicle 106.

Electronic stability control (ESC) (i.e. electronic stability program(ESP) or dynamic stability control (DSC)) is a computerized technologythat improves a vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss oftraction such as during hazardous conditions. The ESC can automaticallyapply the brakes individually to help “steer” the vehicle where thedriver intends to go. For example, brakes may be automatically appliedto the outer front wheel to counter oversteer or automatically appliedto the inner rear wheel to counter understeer. ESC systems also canreduce engine power until control is regained by the driver. ESC is notdesigned to improve a vehicle's cornering performance, but rather, ithelps to minimize the loss of control of the vehicle. Should the ESCsystem activate, the light 210 (FIG. 2) on the dashboard 200 (FIG. 2)will illuminate to warn the driver of its activation.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the connected vehicle 106 slips on the ice 104on the road 102, the ESC system automatically activates, which will helpthe driver steer the vehicle in the direction shown by arrow 108.Otherwise, the connected vehicle 106 will veer off the road 102 as shownby the vehicle 110. Other safety features that may be activated includethe lane change warnings and anti-lock braking. When the safety featuresof the vehicle are activated, data related to such activation may bestored in an electronic control unit of the vehicle or in the computersystem/entertainment system (310 of FIG. 3). The data may includeinformation such as duration of activation, number of times ofactivation, actions taken (braking, lane change, over steering, etc.),time and location of such activation and the like. The safety featuresactivation data may be stored locally on the vehicle or relayed to thirdparties via the vehicle's entertainment system 310 (FIG. 3) or awireless device 312 (FIG. 3) of the driver or the passenger.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary dashboard 200 of a connected vehicle 106according to an embodiment of the invention. The dashboard 200 or theinstrument panel may include a fuel gauge 202, an odometer 204, aspeedometer 206, battery status 208, ESC light 210 and the like. The ECSlight 210 and other warning indicators such as lane change warnings andanti-lock braking are typically illuminated upon that safety feature'sactivation. In other embodiments, dashboard 200 includes a display 408(FIG. 4) to display information such as nearby hazardous conditions.

FIG. 3 illustrates the connected vehicle 106 communicating with thecommunication tower 304 and a highway transportation department 308according to an embodiment of the invention. A connected vehicle 106 iscapable of communicating with a third-party such as the highwaytransportation department 308, other connected vehicles 406, 410 (FIG.4) or wireless devices 312, 318 such as a smart phone, personal digitalassistant, videogame console, smart glasses, smart watch, tablet, laptopand the like.

In one embodiment, the connected vehicles 106, 406, 410, the wirelessdevices 312, 318, the highway transportation department 308 may store analert app 311 that receives alerts from a server 504 (FIG. 5). The alertapp 311 may be provided as a free service (and may contains ads),one-time purchase or subscription based (daily, weekly, monthly,quarterly, half-year, yearly, etc.) and the like. The alert app 311 isconfigured to provide the safety features activation and related data ofthe activation to the server 504, other connected vehicles 406, 410,highway transportation department 308, other third parties 416 (radiostation, weather stations, etc.) or receive reports or alerts about thehazardous conditions including the location and type of hazardousconditions (snow, rain, sleet, curved road, etc.). In other embodiments,the alert app can perform all the functionality that are done by server504 discussed herein.

The entertainment system 310 may include components such as the wirelessinterface to communicate wirelessly using standard or proprietarycommunication protocols via a connection 302 (wired or wirelessconnection), a display (408 of FIG. 4), a processor, associated memoryand clock, software, a global positioning system (GPS) and the like. TheGPS may provide the time and location of the safety features activationin the connected vehicle 106.

In one embodiment, connection 302 is a wireless connection thatcommunicates with a communication tower 304, a satellite (not shown) ordirectly to the third parties such as the highway transportationdepartment 308, other wireless devices 312, 318, electronic road signs404, other third parties 416 and the like. In another embodiment, theconnected vehicle 106 may communicate with a network 502 (FIG. 5), whichmay be the Internet, other distributed network, WLAN, LAN, and the like.It should be noted that the various connections 302, 306, 314, 316 maybe the same or different type of connection (wired or wireless) fromeach other. Wired connections may include USB (universal serial bus),FireWire, serial, parallel and the like while wireless connections maybe via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, near field communications,radiofrequency, satellite, cellular and the like.

In one embodiment, during or after the activation of the safety featuresof the connected vehicle 106, the connected vehicle and/or a wirelessdevice 312 of the driver and passenger may communicate, using the alertapplication 311, the safety features activation and related data of theactivation via connection 302 to the communication tower 304 or othercomputing devices described herein. The communication tower 304 mayinstantaneously or simultaneously transmit the safety featuresactivation and related data of the activation via connection 306 to thehighway transportation department 308. In other embodiments, theconnected vehicle 106 and/or wireless device 312 communicate directlywith the highway transportation department 308, other connected vehicles406, 410, electronic road signs 404, other wireless device 318 and thelike via connection 302, 316.

At the transportation department 308 (and/or at server 504), the safetyfeatures activation and related data of the activation may be analyzedto determine if a portion of the highway where the safety featuresactivation occurred warrants maintenance or treatment by the highwaymaintenance crew and if warnings or alerts should be sent to otherconnected vehicles, additional third parties (radio stations, trafficwebsite provider and the like) 416, electronic road signs 404, wirelessdevice 318, and the like. The determination by the transportationdepartment 308 may include similar activation information from otherconnected vehicles, and weather related information such as from thenational weather service and the like. That is, the determination by thehighway transportation department 308 can be done with data from oneconnected vehicle, multiple connected vehicles, and/or weather-relatedsources. As more connected vehicles 406, 410 provide similar safetyfeatures activation, the more likelihood that hazardous conditions haveoccurred. In other embodiments, information from highway database mayalso provide that in that curved section of road 102, water tends topool as there is a dip in that portion of the road in relation to otherparts of the road and coupled with an inclement weather forecast andreporting of the safety features activation, a determination may be madethat hazardous conditions are likely present in that portion of the road102. Thus, other drivers may be alerted to the location of a hazardouscondition so that appropriate actions may be taken. For example, theowner of the wireless device 318 may delay traveling until the hazardconditions have been mitigated or simply work from home.

In one embodiment, the wireless device 312 can receive information aboutthe safety features activation and related data of the activation viacommunication with the electronic control unit via the wireless adapterconnected thereto. The wireless adapter may be the U-Scan™ from BoschAutomotive Service Solutions Inc., located in Warren Mich. The wirelessdevice 312 also includes components such as a display, wirelessinterface (e.g. cellular, Wi-Fi), a processor, associated memory,software, alert app 311, GPS and the like. Thus, the wireless device 312is configured to transmit the safety features activation and relateddata of the activation to third parties via connection 316 to thecommunication tower 304, the transportation department 308, otherconnected vehicles 406, 410, electronic road signs 404, other wirelessdevice 318, other third parties 416 and the like. In other embodiments,either the connected vehicle 106 or wireless device 312 alone ortogether can relay the safety features activation and the related datato third parties.

FIG. 4 illustrates a system 400 to convey the hazardous condition on theroad 102 according to an embodiment of the invention. The system 400 maycontain one or more of the following components: the connected vehicle106, wireless device 312, other connected vehicles 406, 410, thecommunication tower 304, the transportation department 308, wirelessdevice 318, electronic road sign 404, other third parties 416 andrespective connections 302, 306, 402, 412, 414, 418 may be the same ordifferent type of connection (wired or wireless) from each other.

As stated above, the connected vehicle 106 and/or wireless device 312may relay via connection 302, 316 information about the safety featuresactivation and related data to the safety features that indirectlyindicate the hazardous condition on the road 102. Similarly, otherconnected vehicles 406, 410 may also provide similar information. Theconnection 302 may communicate directly with other connected vehicles406, 410, electronic road sign 404, the communication tower 304, thehighway transportation department 308, other third parties 416 and/orwireless device 318. At the highway transportation department 308 (orother third parties 416, etc.), the safety features activation andrelated data of the activation may be analyzed to determine if a portionof the highway where the safety features activation occurred warrantsmaintenance or treatment by the highway maintenance crew and if warningsshould be sent to other connected vehicles 406, 410 (on display 408),additional third parties (radio stations, traffic websites, weatherstations, and the like) 416, electronic road signs 404, wireless device318 and the like.

Electronic road signs 404 are positioned at various locations along theroad 102 and include wireless interface to communicate with othercomputing devices. For example, electronic road signs 404 may display“slippery road ahead” or any other information desired. Entertainmentsystems 310 or dashboard 200 may include display 408 in order to displayinformation such as “slippery road ahead” or any other desiredinformation. Alternatively, the driver or passenger may receive similarinformation on her wireless device 312.

The system for conveying hazardous conditions on the highway uses safetyfeatures activation and related data of the activation including thelocation of activation in order to provide, in real-time, the hazardousconditions to other third parties. The system can be configured tomanually (by driver or passenger) or automatically transmit the safetyfeatures activation and related data of the activation to the thirdparties. It also can help highway engineers redesign a stretch or roadthat is known to have a curve or other features that require safetyfeatures activation on a daily basis on multiple connected vehicles.

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary components of network system 500 accordingto an embodiment of the invention. The network system 500 includes thenetwork 502 and the server 504. The network system 500 may be located atany third party such as the highway transportation department, weatherstations, radio stations, traffic websites and the like. Further, thefunctions of the server may be performed on any computing device. Majorhardware components of the server such as processor, power source,interfaces (input/output), other memories and components that are partof the server 504 are not shown but are known in the art. Network 502may be any type of network such as Wi-Fi, LAN (local area network), WAN(wide area network), cellular, satellite, zigbee, SAN (storage areanetwork), PAN, (personal area network), MAN (metropolitan area network),Internet or a distributed network and the like.

Memory 506 may store various information, formulas, images, objects,data, applications, software, maps, diagrams, and the like. Theapplications that may be stored in the memory 506 include BrowserManager 508, Alert Manager 510, Rules/Privacy Manager 512, Transit HubsManager 514, Media/Content Manager 516, Ads Generator 518, MessagesManager 520, Post Manager 522, Categories Manager 524, Database 526,Diagnostic Manager 528, App Store 530, and Payment Manager 532. Otherapplications may also be stored to practice the embodiments of theinvention. These applications/managers may interact with each other inorder to function properly or for their configured purpose. An operatingsystem 534 is also stored in memory 506.

Further, these applications can also interact with an alert app 311 thatare stored on the entertainment system 310 of the connected vehicle 106or on the wireless devices 312, 318 or computing devices of thirdparties 308, 416 so that the desired functions and operations describedherein can be utilized on the wireless devices 312, 318, electronic roadsigns 404, and/or the connected vehicle 106 and the like.

Browser Manager 508 interacts with the browsers used by computingdevices such as wireless devices 312, 318 or connected vehicles 106,406, 410 that include Apple Safari, Microsoft Explorer or Edge, GoogleChrome and the like and also interacts with the various applicationsdiscussed herein. The Browser Manager 508 allows the driver or passengerand/or the server (third parties, transportation department, radiostations, weather centers, etc.) owner to perform operations such ascontrolling the browser content including posting or alerting ofhazardous conditions, posting, messaging, multimedia content and thelike. The Browser Manager 508 may interact with the Alert Manager 510 inorder to provide the user or subscriber with the desired experience.

Alert Manager 510 can control or catalog the multitude of subscribers,users, consumers, passengers, drivers, vehicles, and other third parties(and their respective images and information) including log-ininformation, location of the subscribers such as users, consumers,drivers and vehicles, preferences (mailing, routes taken, settings,purchases, etc.), payment information, physical addresses, and virtualaddresses such as emails, phone numbers and the like. This allows theAlert Manager to push the alerts such as emails, postings, messaging,social media (Facebook, Twitter) and the like regarding hazardousconditions along a proposed route (i.e. route using Google Maps™ orWaze™, etc.) out to the users of the alert app 311.

Rules/Privacy Manager 512 may control the various rules settings of thewebsite of the server's owner (or the owner of the website) includingcontrolling different privacy levels set by the user or settings imposedby the website's owner. Transit Hubs Manager 514 can manage informationabout the various transit hubs or third parties (or data subscribers)such as department of transportations, weather centers, ration stations,toll road owners, including their location in various cities, servicessubscribed or provided, contact information of the transit hubs such asaddresses, emails, phone numbers, webpages, other social media sites,and the like.

Media Manager 516 can control the multimedia information (how to drivethrough a particular type of hazards, visitor information, nearbyrestaurants, stores, hotels, repair shops, etc.) may be uploaded ordownloaded to the user or rider to make the driving experience moreenjoyable and help the driver to get to his desired destination.Multimedia information may include links, news, video files,photographs, audio files (music, sound, etc.) and the like. AdsGenerator 518 may control the various ads that may be present on thewebsite or on the alert app 311 including their placement in terms ofposition and timing. For example, Ads Generator 518 may push ads relatedto snow tires or snow chains in the event that snow or icing hazardousconditions are determined. Messages Manager 520 can control the variousmessages that are being posted and responded to by the various users.Messages Manager 520 may also be a “messenger” system that is separatefrom the website so that subscribers, users, drivers, passengers, orother third parties may communicate with each other. By having the“messenger” system separate from the website, this helps to controlamount of information that is being processed by the transit hub'swebsite at any given time and may allow for faster real-time messagingto occur.

Post Manager 522 can control posting by the subscribers includingformatting the posting, length of the posting, moderating the posting,controlling who can post or reply to the posting, and the like. Postscan be posted on a virtual blackboard for the transit hub. CategoriesManager 524 can control various categories that are displayed on thewebsite or in the alert app 311. Categories may include notifications,interests, apps, nearby friends, stores, restaurants, events, and thelike.

Database 526 can be used to store various information and data includingpictures, images, software, maps, media files (video and audio),subscriber information, diagnostic information, hazardous conditionsinformation, user information, highway engineering information, postinginformation, messaging information, transit hub information, rulesinformation, weather information, setting information, ads information,categories information, application information, browser information,location information, payment information, and the like. Database 526may also be accessed via the network 502 by the wireless devices 312,318, the connected vehicles 106, 406, 410 or other external computingdevices (transportation department, third parties, etc.). Database 526can also access other remote databases via the network 502.

Diagnostic Manager 528 can receive and analyze various diagnosticinformation such as safety features activation, and related data of theactivation, diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs), other vehicle diagnosticsof the connected vehicle 106 or other devices the wireless device 312,318 and the like. Diagnostic manager 326 can also interact with wirelessdevices 312, 318 to receive safety features activation and related dataof the activation or diagnose vehicles such as the connected vehicles106, 406, 410. The Diagnostic Manager 528 may analyze the safetyfeatures activation, and related data of the activation from multiplevehicles, weather related conditions and highway engineering informationto determine if hazardous conditions exist on the road 102.

App Store 530 can control various apps that can be downloaded to devicessuch as the wireless devices 312, 318 or the connected vehicles 106,406, 410. Examples of the App Store 530 include Google Play and AppleApp Store and the like. Payment Manager 330 allows the subscriber oruser to pay for subscription to receive services such as hazardousconditions alerts or other services (physically or virtually) either byentering their own credit card, debit card, gift card and discount codesor interacting with other pay services such as PayPal, Apple pay, Googlepay and the like. The Payment Manager can store credit card, debit card,gift card, discount codes, contact information (addresses, phonenumbers, emails, etc.) and the like. Operating system 534 stored in thememory can include Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows 10, Linux and thelike. It should be noted that although these managers/apps are discussedindividually, one or more functionality may be combined into one appinstead of being separated.

Other components for server 504 can include GPS System 536, displayengine 538, and communication interface 540. GPS system 340 can trackthe various locations of the transit hubs 514, vehicles 106, 406, 410,wireless devices 312, 318, subscribers, drivers, users, and riders andprovide their locations in relation to the hazardous conditions or toeach other. Display engine or graphical user interface (GUI) generator538 can control display of information on the display of the wirelessdevices 312, 318 or the display 408 of the connected vehicles 106, 406,410. For example, GUI generator 538 can control various parts of thebrowser or alert app 311, 510 such as hazardous conditions on a map,subscriber profile information, postings, multimedia content and thelike. Further, GUI generator 538 can also interpret the interactions bythe user of the wireless devices 312, 318 or of the connected vehicles106, 406, 410 so that requested information or received information isproperly processed. Communication interface 540 allows for wired orwireless communication between the server and its components and thenetwork 502. Wired connection may be USB, FireWire, serial, parallel andthe like. Wireless communication may include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee,near field communications, radiofrequency, satellite, cellular and thelike.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 for reporting and receiving hazardousconditions information. The method 600 may be implemented using thevarious components described herein. At step 602, the method 600 startsand proceeds to step 604. At step 604, the connected vehicle 106collects driving data such as safety features activation, and relateddata of the activation, and/or diagnostic information. Safety featuresactivation may include ESC, lane change warnings, and/or anti-lockbraking activation due to hazardous conditions on the road. Driving datamay also include GPS location of the vehicle/driver to determine thelocation of the hazardous conditions.

At step 606, the driving data including the safety features activationand related data of the activation (including location) may be stored ina memory 506, database 526, Alert Manager 510 or the Diagnostic Manager528. At step 608, the stored driving data including the safety featuresactivation, and related data of the activation may be transmitted(continuously or intermittently) to server 504 (or other devicesdiscussed herein) if it was stored on the connected vehicle 106 or thewireless device 312. The driving data including the safety featuresactivation, and related data of the activation (including location) maybe transmitted from the connected vehicle 106 or the wireless device 312via the communication tower 304 or directly to the server 504 viaconnection 302, 316. At step 610, the server 504 receives thetransmitted stored driving data including the safety featuresactivation, and related data of the activation, weather information,and/or highway engineering information and stores it in the database526, Alert Manager 510 or the Diagnostic Manager 528 of memory 506.

At step 612, Alert Manager 510 or the Diagnostic Manager 528 analyzesthe driving data (including the safety features activation, and relateddata of the activation), weather data for the location of theactivation, highway engineering data for the location of activation andthe like to determine if based on one or more of the driving data,weather information, highway engineering information whether hazardousconditions exist at a location of the road 102. Location of the vehicleand driver/passenger can also be taken into account as part of theanalysis. The analyzing step may be intermittent, for example every fiveminutes, 30 minutes, every hour, every 5 hours, every 24 hours, everyother day, every week and the like or the analyzing step may becontinuous or on the fly.

At step 614, the analyzed driving/activation data, weather and highwayinformation and any determinations of hazardous conditions can be storedon the server 504 (e.g. database 526, Alert Manager 510 or DiagnosticManager 528). At step 616, the Alert Manager 510 can provide hazardouscondition alerts to subscribers including other connected vehicles 406,410 (on display 408), highway transportation departments 308, additionalthird parties (radio stations, traffic websites, weather stations, andthe like) 416, electronic road signs 404, wireless device 318 and thelike through alert app 311 and/or via browsers, emails, postings,messaging, social media (Facebook, Twitter) etc. At step 618, the methodends.

Aspects of the present invention have been described with respect toblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(system), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer instructions that include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, and so on, that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. These computer instructionsmay be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. Additionally, thesteps in the flow chart do not have to be performed in the order setforth but can be in any order and be implemented by other componentsthan the ones described.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thedetailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claimsto cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, sincenumerous modifications and variations will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact construction and operation illustrated and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of identifying hazardous conditions on aroad, the method comprising a non-transitory processor-readable mediumconfigured to execute on at least one processor of a computing system,the method comprising: receiving with the at least one processor of thecomputing system first safety feature activation information from afirst connected vehicle being driven on the road that includes alocation on the road of a first safety feature activation, wherein thefirst safety feature activation information further includes at leastone of the following: a duration of the first safety feature activation,a number of first safety feature activations that occurred, actionstaken by a driver of the first connected vehicle, and a time of thefirst safety feature activation; determining with the at least oneprocessor based on the first safety feature activation information ofthe first connected vehicle that a hazardous condition exists at alocation on the road being driven on by the first connected vehicle;storing the location of the hazardous condition and the first safetyfeature activation information in a memory of the computing system; andgenerating and transmitting alert information that includes anindication of the hazardous condition and the location of the hazardouscondition, wherein the alert information is generated and transmitted toat least one of the following: an electronic road sign located near thelocation of the hazardous condition, a wireless device, and anotherconnected vehicle.
 2. The method of identifying hazardous conditions ona road of claim 1, further comprising implementing an alert applicationin a device of a subscriber that is configured to receive and displaythe alert information along with the location of the hazardous conditionalong a route driven by the subscriber.
 3. The method of identifyinghazardous conditions on a road of claim 1, wherein the first safetyfeature activation comprises activation of at least one of the followingsystems: lane change warnings, anti-lock braking, and electronicstability control.
 4. The method of identifying hazardous conditions ona road of claim 1 further comprising: receiving additional informationthat comprises at least one of the following: weather information forthe location of the first safety feature activation and highwayengineering information for the location of the first safety featureactivation; and the determining further comprises determining with theat least one processor based on the first safety feature activationinformation of the first connected vehicle and the additionalinformation that a hazardous condition exists at the location on theroad being driven on by the first connected vehicle.
 5. The method ofidentifying hazardous conditions on a road of claim 4, wherein thedetermining further comprises using the weather information for thelocation of the first safety feature activation or the highwayengineering information for the location of the first safety featureactivation in addition to the first safety feature activationinformation of the first connected vehicle to determine if the hazardouscondition exists for that location of the road.
 6. The method ofidentifying hazardous conditions on a road of claim 1 furthercomprising: receiving with the at least one processor of the computingsystem second safety feature activation information of a secondconnected vehicle that was collected at the location of the first safetyfeature activation; and determining based on the second safety featureactivation information of the second vehicle with the at least oneprocessor in addition to the first safety feature activation informationof the first connected vehicle that a hazardous condition exists at thelocation on the road being driven on by the first connected vehicle andthe second connected vehicle.
 7. The method of identifying hazardousconditions on a road of claim 1, further comprising generating andtransmitting alert information that includes an indication of thehazardous condition and the location of the hazardous condition to adevice of a subscriber, wherein the subscriber comprises at least one ofthe following: a highway transportation department, a driver of thefirst connected vehicle, and a passenger of the first connected vehicle.8. The method of identifying hazardous conditions on a road of claim 1,further comprising generating and transmitting alert information thatincludes an indication of the hazardous condition and the location ofthe hazardous condition to a device of a subscriber, wherein thesubscriber comprises at least one of the following: a weather station, aradio station, and a web traffic provider.
 9. The method of identifyinghazardous conditions on a road of claim 1, further comprisingimplementing an alert application in a device of a subscriber that isconfigured to receive and display the alert information along with thelocation of the hazardous condition along a route driven by thesubscriber, wherein the alert application is further configured toprovide ad information associated with the hazardous condition along aroute driven by the subscriber.
 10. The method of identifying hazardousconditions on a road of claim 1, further comprising implementing analert application in a device of a subscriber that is configured toreceive and display the alert information along with the location of thehazardous condition along a route driven by the subscriber, wherein thealert application is further configured to provide multimediainformation associated with the hazardous condition along a route drivenby the subscriber.
 11. A computer system configured to identifyhazardous conditions on a road, the computer system comprising: at leastone processor configured to receive first safety feature activationinformation from a first connected vehicle being driven on the road thatincludes a location on the road of a first safety feature activation,wherein the first safety feature activation information further includesat least one of the following: a duration of the first safety featureactivation, a number of first safety feature activations that occurred,actions taken by a driver of the first connected vehicle, and a time ofthe first safety feature activation; the at least one processorconfigured to determine based on the first safety feature activationinformation of the first connected vehicle that a hazardous conditionexists at a location on the road being driven on by the first connectedvehicle; a memory configured to store the location of the hazardouscondition and the first safety feature activation information in thecomputing system; and the at least one processor configured to generateand transmit alert information that includes an indication of thehazardous condition and the location of the hazardous condition, whereinthe alert information is generated and transmitted to at least one ofthe following: an electronic road sign located near the location of thehazardous condition, a wireless device, and another connected vehicle.12. The computer system configured to identify hazardous conditions on aroad of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured totransmit to an alert application in a device of a subscriber that isconfigured to receive and display the alert information along with thelocation of the hazardous condition along a route driven by thesubscriber.
 13. The computer system configured to identify hazardousconditions on a road of claim 11, wherein the first safety featureactivation comprises activation of at least one of the followingsystems: lane change warnings, anti-lock braking, and electronicstability control.
 14. The computer system configured to identifyhazardous conditions on a road of claim 11 further comprising: the atleast one processor further configured to receive additional informationthat comprises at least one of the following: weather information forthe location of the first safety feature activation and highwayengineering information for the location of the first safety featureactivation; and the at least one processor further configured todetermine based on the first safety feature activation information ofthe first connected vehicle and the additional information that ahazardous condition exists at the location on the road being driven onby the first connected vehicle.
 15. The computer system configured toidentify hazardous conditions on a road of claim 14, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to use the weather informationfor the location of the first safety feature activation or the highwayengineering information for the location of the first safety featureactivation in addition to the first safety feature activationinformation of the first connected vehicle to determine if the hazardouscondition exists for that location of the road.
 16. The computer systemconfigured to identify hazardous conditions on a road of claim 11further comprising: the at least one processor is further configured toreceive second safety feature activation information of a secondconnected vehicle that was collected at the location of the first safetyfeature activation; and the at least one processor is further configuredto determine based on the second safety feature activation informationof the second vehicle in addition to the first safety feature activationinformation of the first connected vehicle that a hazardous conditionexists at the location on the road being driven on by the firstconnected vehicle and the second connected vehicle.
 17. The computersystem configured to identify hazardous conditions on a road of claim11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured generateand transmit alert information that includes an indication of thehazardous condition and the location of the hazardous condition to adevice of a subscriber; and wherein the subscriber comprises at leastone of the following: a highway transportation department, a driver ofthe first connected vehicle, and a passenger of the first connectedvehicle.
 18. The computer system configured to identify hazardousconditions on a road of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured generate and transmit alert information that includesan indication of the hazardous condition and the location of thehazardous condition to a device of a subscriber; and wherein thesubscriber comprises at least one of the following: a weather station, aradio station, and a web traffic provider.
 19. The computer systemconfigured to identify hazardous conditions on a road of claim 11,wherein the at least one processor is further configured generate andtransmit alert information to an alert application in a device of asubscriber that is configured to receive and display the alertinformation along with the location of the hazardous condition along aroute driven by the subscriber, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured generate and transmit ad information associated withthe hazardous condition along a route driven by the subscriber.
 20. Thecomputer system configured to identify hazardous conditions on a road ofclaim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configuredgenerate and transmit alert information to an alert application in adevice of a subscriber that is configured to receive and display thealert information along with the location of the hazardous conditionalong a route driven by the subscriber, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured generate and transmit multimediainformation associated with the hazardous condition along a route drivenby the subscriber.